2005 Chateau Pape Clement (750ml OWC)

PRICE ABOVE IS PER BOTTLE. 12 BOTTLE CASE PURCHASE REQUIRED

Vintage: 2005
Format: 750ml
Wine Name: Chateau Pape Clement
Vineyard:
Designation:
Appellation: Pessac-Leognan
Producer: Chateau Pape Clement
Varietal: Red Bordeaux Blend
Type: Red
Country: France
Region: Bordeaux
Sub-Region: Graves
Alcohol:

Tasting note: Good deep red-ruby. Superripe, expressive nose offers black plum, smoke, spices and leather. Denser, sweeter and fatter than the 2006; even more generous and forward today. But this impressively chewy and rich wine also has a powerful underlying spine and plenty of lurking power. Finishes very ripe and very long, with the tannins buried by smoky, minerally soil tones. (94pts. Stephen Tanzer)

Tasted: May/Jun. 2008
Score: 94
Drink: N/A

Tasting note: Probably the greatest Pape-Clement ever made, the dense purple-colored 2005 (a blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon) exhibits sumptuous notes of smoky scorched earth, graphite, melted licorice, and blackberries. Once past the exquisite perfume, the wine reveals full body, extraordinary concentration, plenty of chocolate, smoke, cassis, and blackberry flavors, and that unmistakable volcanic ash-like earthiness that comes from this appellation. The tannins are slightly sweeter than those found in most northern Medocs, but this is still a backward, large-scaled effort that requires 7-8 years of cellaring. (98pts. Robert Parker)

Tasted: Apr. 2008
Score: 98
Drink: 2015-43

Tasting note: Dark in color, offering wonderful aromas of licorice, berry, fresh tobacco and currant, with Indian spices. Complex and full-bodied, with supersilky tannins that caress every inch of the palate. Long and satisfying. A joy to taste this young wine. (96pts. JS, Wine Spectator)

Tasted: Mar. 31, 2008
Score: 96
Drink: After 2015

Tasting note: Tasted in the bottle. Very lovely dark color. Very smoky nose, ripe and strong, smelling of plum and a touch of alcohol. Superb mouth, silky, ample with a touch of cream. The wine has the tenderness of this estate plus a deep interior energy, which enhances the flavor. It is great, even when it has just been bottled. (95pts. Jean-Marc Quarin)

Tasted: Sep. 2007
Score: 95
Drink: 2030-40